


The Dangers of Kidnapping

by BarPurple



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-27
Updated: 2018-01-27
Packaged: 2019-03-10 07:09:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13497216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BarPurple/pseuds/BarPurple
Summary: Ariel has been kidnapped. It is no fun and so very boring, until the kidnappers bring in another prisoner.





	The Dangers of Kidnapping

Ariel was whistling. She wasn’t very good at it, she couldn’t get the sound right, underwater her whistling was musical, but on dry land it sounded strange and wrong.

And apparently very, very annoying.

The hulking man, who she had named Guard, since that’s what he did, was grinding his teeth together. Ariel took great pleasure in his discomfort, it was only fair since she’d been grabbed from the market and bundled into a cell. Kidnapped for ransom apparently, it was not a fun experience. The bag over her head and rough handling had been unpleasant, but what was upsetting her now was the boredom. Once her kidnappers had made her write a letter to Eric demanding gold for her release, they had ignored her. She was given food and such, but it was so boring. The whistling helped a lot.

“Will you stop that damn racket!”

She tilted her head from side to side as she considered, and then grinned at him.

“Nope.”

She started whistling again, the jaunty tune faltering a bit when she grinned at Guard’s frustrated cursing. At least she was learning some new words.

 

-o0o-

 

There was an argument going on outside, which was unusual because the brigands were normally quite calm and friendly to each other.

“What are you thinking! Only one at a time. You know that!”

That was the panicky voice of the one Ariel had named Fidget. He wasn’t the boss, but did seem to be the brains of the operation. There was a gruff laugh, followed instantly by a smaller giggle; that would be Bubble and Squeak. Bubble was a big man with muscles that looked like they’d been blown up like balloons, and Squeak reminded her of a rat. The door was slammed open and Bubble strolled in with an unconscious form slung over his shoulder. Squeak scampered around and grabbed the keys from the table.

“You worry too much. This one was easy, and she is filthy rich.”

Ariel stepped back as Squeak opened the door and Bubble dropped the unconscious woman on to the floor. She had tried rushing them and escaping, but she was no match for them, and she didn’t like getting a face full of poppy dust.

Fidget was wringing his hands; “Did she faint?”

Bubble laughed; “No, tried to kick and bite so she got a puff of poppy.”

Once the cell was locked, Ariel checked on the clocked woman as the bickering continued.

“Belle?”

Guard caught her whisper; “You know her then?”

“Yes. Wait, did you kidnap her without knowing who she is?”

Squeak tipped out a small sack of jewellery onto Guard’s table; “We know she’s rich, what else matters?”

Ariel’s eyes widened at the sight of the gaudy jewellery. None of that was Belle’s sort of thing, she liked simple pieces, in fact she’d never seen Belle wear anything other than her mother’s necklace and her wedding rings. She doubled checked the sleeping woman in case she had been mistaken. Her eyes were open, and she gave Ariel a sly wink. Nope, this was Belle, and she had a plan.

Guard sniffed; “There’s no assay marks on any of this, not even a maker’s mark. It’s gold, but I don’t know…”

With Belle playing asleep Ariel decided it was her job to have a little fun with their captors; “Her husband makes it for her.”

Bubble slapped Fidget on the shoulder; “See, a wealthy goldsmith. He’ll pay a pretty penny to get her back.”

Ariel couldn’t help but grin; “Oh somebody is going to pay, but her husband isn’t a goldsmith, he’s a spinner.”

Bubble and Squeak wore looks of confusion, while Fidget dropped the bracelet he’d been looking over.

“What did you say?”

“He’s a spinner, well that’s not the only thing he’s known for, but he is very famous for it.”

Fidget froze. he looked sick, for a moment Ariel thought he was going to vomit. He jerked into life and began rushing around gathering his things.

“We have to get out of here, now! Before he comes. You idiots have killed us! Ha! We’ll be lucky if he only kills us.”

It took Bubble and Squeak to stop his frantic movements. Bubble shook him none to kindly; “What’s got in to you? You said that no one would find us here because of the magic in the rocks.”

Fidget pulled out of Bubble’s grip and hissed; “I said it would protect us against normal magic, but Ru.. the Dar.. her husband isn’t normal!”

Belle stretched and sat up; “That’s very rude. It’s not going to do you any favours talking about my husband like that.”

Guard shrugged; “Who is this husband of yours then?”

“No! Don’t say his name!”

There was a beat of tense silence before a new voice whispered; “Say who’s name, dearie?”

Belle and Ariel watched with interest as Rumple dealt with the brigands. Belle rolled her eyes fondly as Rumple toyed with them, letting them get to the door before slamming it closed, and twirling easily out of the way when one got enraged enough to throw a punch his way. Ariel giggled; “It looks like he’s having fun.”

“Oh yeah, it’s been a while since we’ve had to do a rescue. Are you alright, they didn’t hurt you or anything?”

“Oh no, I just was so bored.”

Belle squeezed her arm; “Eric should be outside. The plan was that he’d wait until,” – They both hissed in sympathy as Bubble crashed face first into the bars, - “erm, until Rumple had disarmed them. Rumple!”

Rumple extinguished the fireball in his hand and conjured ropes to tie up the gang. He turned to Belle with a sheepish look on his face; “Sorry, sweetheart, got a bit carried away there.”

Belle hummed and nodded her head at the cell door, a smile was tugging at the corners of her mouth. Rumple waved a hand and bow with a flourish; “Your freedom awaits, ladies.”

 

-o0o-

 

Dear Henry,

I hope you are well. We are all fine.

Yesterday Mama and Papa helped Eric rescue Ariel. She had been kidnapped by some bad men who were hiding in a place where tracking spells can find.

Mama came up with a brilliant plan to get herself kidnapped by the bad men, so Papa would be able to find her and rescue everyone, because Papa can always find me and Mama. Papa had to do some magic, but it was Mama’s plan and Ariel said she was very clever and brave. Ariel said one of the bad men wet his pants when Papa turned up, but she said a different word that I wasn’t supposed to hear. We stayed for the big party and I got to eat lots of cakes and stay up until really late.

The bad men are locked up now, so they can’t be bad anymore. Ariel showed me her collection of salad tridents, that is what she calls forks, she has loads of them! Eric is taking me out on a boat tomorrow, so Mama and Papa can have a quiet day. I bet they will kiss a lot.

Write back soon,

Lots of Love

Uncle Gideon xxx


End file.
